Stephen Blewett to lead MTN Cameroon

MTN Group said on Thursday that it has named Stephen Blewett, the current CEO of its operation in Benin, to lead its larger business in Cameroon.

Blewett, who is a former CEO of Altech Autopage Cellular, will take the helm in Cameroon on 1 August when Uche Ofodile, the current CEO of MTN Liberia, will become the CEO of the Benin business.

“Under Stephen’s leadership, MTN Benin recorded double digit revenue growth for three years running,” said Karl Toriola, vice president for MTN’s West and Central Africa region, in a statement. “Uche leaves a business with double digit year-on-year revenue growth, enjoying a nine-point market share improvement against its competitor.”

Blewett has been CEO of MTN Benin, an operation of 5.5 million subscribers, for the past five years.

His time in Benin has not been without incident. In 2017, he was ordered by the government to leave the West African country. This was after it emerged that the telecommunications regulator there was claiming US$213-million in spectrum fees. The dispute was subsequently resolved and Blewett returned to the country — but only six months after he was expelled.

In Cameroon, Blewett will replace Hendrik Kasteel, who left MTN Group in March. Since then, MTN Cameroon chief financial officer Ebenezer Bodylawson has been acting CEO, steering the operation of more than 10 million subscribers.

Ofodile joined MTN in 2018. Since then, she has repositioned MTN Liberia as a competitive player in the market and grown its customer base to 1.45 million, the group said.  — © 2020 NewsCentral Media